Kong: Skull Island (2017) Mini Film Review

King Kong has been a franchise that spawned many films, televisions and appears in other media formats for the past half a century. This year, The Great Gorilla is back bigger, stronger and more ferocious onto the big screen. Kong: Skull Island is technically a remake of the original film, with some changes to the story but set in the same iconic Skull Island. With big names such as Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L Jackson in the cast, will this movie able to bring back the glory of the Monster Ape from its prime day?

Premise

The premise is set in 1973, not long after the Vietnam War with Captain Conrad, a British Special Air Service retiree, being hired by a government agent Dr. Bill to investigate an island, Skull Island. The crews are gathered with some militaries personnel with Lieutenant Colonel Packard being tasked to escort the team. Other people from scientists to photographer join in the expedition. While they arrived on Skull Island, they encounter King Kong, who proceeded to destroy several of their vehicles and they are separated into different parts of the island. Packard swears revenge but little do they know of the real threat hiding beneath the ground, will they make it out alive in this giant infested island?

The King of Ape is back!

Review

Man oh man, the pacing of this movie is pretty fast, to the point of some rushing in the beginning. Not long after the movie opening, we are shown Kong’s mighty existence straightaway accompanied by huge explosions. The film does not take its time to slowly immerse the characters and audience into the island habitat and by introducing other giants first. The Director decides to feature our titular ape from the get-go, and in a way, it does leave an impressive first impression. The fight scenes and special effects are in full swing, with many explosions and actions fully depicting the strength of Kong. It is indeed Bigger, Stronger and more Bad-Ass compared to the previous King Kong Movies. I would say the film succeeded at making Kong Great again.

What the film excels in the action sequences is, however, being dragged down by weak story and characters. To be honest, none of the characters in this movie stand out at all. Even Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L Jackson play roles that are pretty one-dimensional. To be fair, this movie is about Kong himself being the main protagonist and other humans as supporting characters. The relations between the humans are not explored much and this film does not plan to hide this fact by introducing love scenes that have been so cliche in the Hollywood. The film knows what it plans to show, and that is Kong thrashing the monsters around him. This goes for the story that can be predictable and is pretty cliche in its execution. However, the soundtracks are bad-ass and fit the fighting sequences of the giant monsters, which I really enjoy especially during Kong’s fight with the Alpha Boss.

Kong: Skull Island (2017) Mini Film Review

Story

Pacing

Characters

Soundtrack

Epicness

Reader Rating0 Votes0

What's good

One of the best action sequences with CGI

The King's badassness is back!

Great and consistent pacing to keep the tension

Awesome soundtracks

What's bad

One-dimensional characters

Plot is unoriginal

3.8

Pretty Good!

The King is back with badassness!

After a long hiatus, King Kong is back with a brand new story and cool cinematic effects. Though its plot and characters are its weak points, this movie knows that you are only here for the King of Ape and it delivers in that regard!